Moth Flight's Vision/Chapter 3
Chapter description Moth Flight's PoV :Gorse Fur pulls up sharply as the slope steepens toward the moortop. Moth Flight is out of breath and relieved when Wind Runner halts, although Dust Muzzle, hardly pants. Wind Runner surveys the moor, and Moth Flight stares at the wide valley that dips behind them to Highstones. She watches the sun as it sinks, and Wind Runner mewing her name makes her jump. She is confused, and her mother asks if she had not heard her; Moth Flight had not. Wind Runner says that she told her to go with Dust Muzzle and hunt out the prey around a gorse patch, while she and Gorse Fur would check the high burrows for rabbits. Dust Muzzle wants to hunt rabbits too, but Wind Runner tells him to stay with his sister, as Moth Flight is not fast enough for rabbits and will probably bring home nothing but leaves if left alone. Moth Flight turns away and stomps down the slope. :Dust Muzzle catches up to her and advises her not to mind Wind Runner, whose bad mood won't last long. Moth Flight doesn't look at her brother as she says that it is her fault that Wind Runner is in a bad mood, and that her mother would torture her all day for falling asleep. Dust Muzzle gently reminds her that she was supposed to be looking after Slate's kits. Moth Flight argues that they were okay because she rescued them, and lashes her tail, wondering aloud why Wind Runner can't be pleased with that. Dust Muzzle doesn't answer but brushes his pelt against Moth Flight's, and recommends forgetting about it and catching something tasty. :As they near the gorse, Moth Flight flattens her ears to block out the sound of the wind and tastes the air for prey, realizing that Wind Runner should be pleased if she brought home some prey. Dust Muzzle halts and wonders out loud if Willow Tail caught up with Red Claw. Moth Flight responds that she hopes not, and asks what would happen if she started a fight and got hurt. Dust Muzzle tastes the air and replies that she's not a rabbit brain and wouldn't attack him on her own. Moth Flight frets that the tabby she-cat was so angry with him, and says that he was on their land but wasn't hunting, and it was as if Willow Tail was trying to start a fight. Dust Muzzle agrees, but notes that they have sunny clearings in SkyClan, and he may have been up to something. Moth Flight murmurs maybe, but doesn't believe it, and wonders if she is crazy to trust Red Claw. :Dust Muzzle goes on that the next Gathering is the day after tomorrow, and they could see if Willow Tail would cause more trouble then. Moth Flight recalls that the two cats had been rogues together, but Dust Muzzle drops into a crouch as she speaks. She freezes and follows his gaze; a shrew roots in the grass below a gorse branch. Moth Flight is excited and asks to catch it in a whisper, and Dust Muzzle gives a tiny nod. :Sinking low, Moth Flight creeps forward, delighted that the shrew has no idea that she is there. She leaps, pushing hard with her hind legs, but sails into the gorse, crashing through the branches. The prickles stab her nose and she screws up her eyes, tripping over Dust Muzzle as he darts past her. She rubs her nose and winces, and a moment later Dust Muzzle scrambles from beneath the bush, the shrew dangling from his jaws, dead. Moth Flight exclaims that he caught it, blinking at him proudly, and wishes aloud that she was as good at hunting as him. :Dust Muzzle lays the shrew at her paws and comforts his littermate that she will be one day, offering Moth Flight to tell their mother that she caught it. Moth Flight bristles and snaps that she doesn't need her help, then instantly feels guilty as hurt flashes in her brother's eyes. She apologizes that it is really kind of him, but that she is not going to be something she is not, and that she is useless at hunting. Dust Muzzle comforts her that she just needs practice, and licks her nose, commenting that she is bleeding. Moth Flight asks if she is and sighs, knowing that Wind Runner would guess she crashed into the gorse bush. Dust Muzzle suggests giving it a wash, and scoops up the shrew and heads upslope, but Moth Flight asks if they won't hunt anymore. Dust Muzzle guesses that they frightened away all the prey, and suggests helping Wind Runner and Gorse Fur hunt rabbits. Moth Flight follows, knowing that she ruined the hunt. :As they near the burrows, Moth Flight is surprised to see her parents sitting side by side, heads bent in conversation. She overhears them as she and Dust Muzzle near. Gorse Fur pleads Wind Runner not to be hard on her, and Moth Flight and Dust Muzzle slow. The Clan leader snaps that it's time she grew up and took responsibility, as she is not a kit anymore. She adds that she doesn't make allowances for the rest of her Clan, so can't make them for her. Dust Muzzle glances at Moth Flight and she is uncomfortable that her parents are talking about her. :Gorse Fur argues that she is not irresponsible, but rather notices things other cat's don't, and gets distracted. Wind Runner counters that with mouths to feed and kits to protect, she shouldn't be distracted. She adds that Dust Muzzle doesn't get into trouble, and wonders aloud why she can't be more like him. Gorse Fur presses that Dust Muzzle will make a fine hunter, but that Moth Flight is special. Wind Runner objects that WindClan doesn't need special cats, but needs hunters and fighters. :Moth Flight softly growls that they think she is rabbit-brained. Dust Muzzle drops the shrew and responds that Gorse Fur is just trying to explain that she's different. Moth Flight glares at him, asking if he thinks she is different too, and her brother responds that she is, but not in a bad way. Moth Flight hisses that she doesn't want to be different, but Gorse Fur turns and exclaims Moth Flight's name, surprised that they are back already. Wind Runner stares at the shrew and asks if that was all they caught. Dust Muzzle dips his head and replies that it was all there was, but Wind Runner snorts that Moth Flight must have tripped over her tail and scared the other prey away. :Moth Flight doesn't meet her mother's gaze, as she had guessed right away that it was her fault. Moth Flight is angry and hurt, and is determined to be as good as any other Clan cat. She scans the moortop for something to catch, and is relieved to spot a lapwing. She drops into a crouch and pads forward, feeling confident, and the lapwing stabs its beak into the earth, and begins to tug on something it caught. Moth Flight's breath quickens and she wills the bird's prey to resist and keep the lapwing distracted. She is a fox-length away, her tail swishing over the grass in excitement. :The lapwing freezes, seeing Moth Flight, and the she-cat leaps, stretching her paws out wildly as the lapwing flaps into the air. She tries to reach up twisting, but she can't catch it and lands on her side. She is embarrassed and scrambles to her paws, disappointed. Wind Runner shakes her head sadly, but Gorse Fur hurries toward her, telling her it was a great try. Dust Muzzle follows his father, and reassures Moth Flight that lapwings are hard to cath. Gorse Fur gently informs her that her tail gave her away, and that she must always keep it still and lift it just above the ground so she can move silently, as prey know what to listen for and will flee at anything unusual. Moth Flight hangs her head and says that she let it get away, but Gorse Fur comforts her that she learned something, which is important, and that she’ll be catching lapwings soon. Moth Flight feels very sorry, knowing that Gorse Fur must be as disappointed in her as Wind Runner. She promises to get better, and he purrs that she will. :Wind Runner crouches beside a burrow entrance, and Gorse Fur meows that he will go and help, offering his kits to join them. Dust Muzzle's attention is fixed on something else, and he says he will be back after he catches the vole, and heads downslope. Gorse Fur questions Moth Flight on what to do if she sees a rabbit running. His daughter guesses that she would chase it, but Gorse Fur tells her that she should head where it's looking and cut off its escape route. He trots toward Wind Runner and Moth Flight follows. The WindClan leader beckons her mate with a flick of her muzzle and he races away to another hole farther along the rise. Moth Flight wounds her way around the burrows, wanting to be distant from Wind Runner. :The sun touches Highstones, turning the peaks orange. Moth Flight remembers her dream, and she finds it hard to believe that she had been there when the blue-gray she-cat had died and came back to life. Moth Flight can almost believe that those cats were real, not just her imagination. None of the cats had seemed shocked when the she-cat came back to life. :Wind Runner crying her name sounds at the edges of Moth Flight's thoughts, but she hardly hears her mother, and remembers the blue-gray she-cat's heavy wound, wondering how any cat could have survived with an injury like that. Her mother angrily yowls her name again, and a rabbit pelts past her, then Wind Runner's pelt flashes at the edge of her vision. Wind Runner slows to a halt as the rabbit veers downslope and avoids Gorse Fur who was crouched beyond the rise, and it darts down a hole. :Wind Runner castigates Moth Flight, enraged, that she should have gotten out of the way if she wasn't going to catch it. Moth Flight stares at her mother, horrified, and thinks that she has gotten distracted again. The white she-cat apologizes, but Wind Runner, furious, glares at her daughter and meows that she was supposed to be helping Moth Flight agrees that she knows and stares at her paws, explaining that she was remembering a dream she had. Gorse Fur gallops toward them, chastising his daughter that she must pay attention, although his mew has more pity than anger in it. :Wind Runner demands how many more times she will have to remind Moth Flight, causing the unattentive she-cat's shoulders to sink. The Clan leader lectures that a hungry Clan is vulnerable, and Moth Flight lifts her head to meet Wind Runner's gaze. She begins to apologize, but cuts herself off when she sees the moth. The green insect dances over the grass, and Moth Flight, noting it to be like the one in her dream, longs to follow it. The white she-cat thinks that she must catch up with it, and pelts after it happily. Wind Runner yowls her name, but Moth Flight hardly hears it as she chases the moth. Characters Major *Gorse Fur *Wind Runner *Dust Muzzle }} Mentioned *Black Ear (Unnamed) *White Tail (Unnamed) *Willow Tail *Red Claw *Unnamed blue-gray she-cat *Unnamed ginger tom *Unnamed dark tabby tom }} Errors *"Clan" is spelled as "clan" twice. Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:Moth Flight's Vision Category:Super Edition arc